Monday

Dec 24, 2007 at 12:01 AMDec 24, 2007 at 10:45 AM

Gregory Leland gave Laura Montero an early Christmas present that was likely not on the 14-year-old's initial holiday wish list: a helicopter ride to safety. Leland and Montero made national headlines when Laura's appendix burst earlier this month aboard a cruise ship off the coast of Baja California. Leland, a Navy pilot, airlifted her to the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan, where an emergency appendectomy was performed. Despite an original prognosis that had Montero being released before Christmas, Laura will now spend the holiday in a San Diego Hospital with her mother, Trudy LaField, thousands of miles away from family and friends in her hometown of Albion, Ill.

Gregory Leland gave Laura Montero an early Christmas present that was likely not on the 14-year-old's initial holiday wish list: a helicopter ride to safety.
Both Leland and Montero made national headlines when Laura's appendix burst earlier this month aboard a cruise ship off the coast of Baja California.
Leland, a Navy pilot, airlifted her to the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan, where an emergency appendectomy was performed.
Despite an original prognosis that had Montero being released before Christmas, Laura will now spend the holiday in a San Diego Hospital with her mother, Trudy LaField, thousands of miles away from family and friends in her hometown of Albion, Ill.
Christmas Eve, however, found her aunt, Michelle Burton, in an effusive mood, heaping praise upon people like Leland, a Marlborough native, who piloted the helicopter that airlifted Montero off the cruise ship's deck.
``The Navy has been awesome everything just turned out so much better than we expected,'' said Burton.
Like Laura, Leland will also be spending his holiday in snowless southern California, far away from his childhood home on West Hill Road. Leland is presently stationed in San Diego and is preparing to be deployed within a few months. He did not specify where he thought he would be deployed.
Leland's crew had been training in preparation for that deployment when the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan received word of an ill girl aboard the Dawn Princess - a Bermuda-flagged cruise ship that was located more than 200 miles northwest of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
``We stopped what we were doing and started steaming towards them,'' said Leland.
Despite being separated by more than 500 miles of ocean, the two ships covered that distance overnight, meeting up with the cruise ship at about 5 a.m. on Dec. 15, he said.
Once near the cruise ship, Leland hovered his HH-60H Seahawk helicopter over the deck while his crew lowered a basket to the cruise ship. They had to use the basket because the ship did not have a large enough area to land area to land the helicopter. Montero was placed in the basket, and winched into the chopper.
Then Leland flew her to the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier where an emergency appendectomy was performed.
``It was kind of like an out-of-body experience, like this was not happening to us,'' said Burton.
Leland, however, downplays any talk of heroism, electing to spread the praise among his crew, sailors aboard the U.S.S. Reagan, fellow helicopter crews that accompanied his, the naval surgeon that performed the surgery, and the cruise ships' navigators.
``It was certainly rewarding, and I'm grateful it looks like she's going to be all right, but it was a real team effort,'' he said.
Laura recently had another surgery, said Burton, and has to be fever-free for three straight days before she is released from the hospital.
``She was running a fever Saturday, and at this point we really have no idea when she'll be released,'' said Burton.
A 1990 graduate of Marlborough High School, Leland joined the Navy a week after graduating from Framingham State College. During his 13 years in the service, Leland has worked his way up to lieutenant commander. He lives with his wife, Kristin, also a Marlborough native, and their three elementary school-age sons.
In the past, Leland said had performed a similar rescue on a smaller naval vessel.
``I think that's why we got the call,'' he said. ``We practice this stuff all the time on ships, in the mountains, wherever we can.''
Dan McDonald can be reached at 508-490-7475 or at dmcdonal@cnc.com.

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